COMMERCE CITY — A 30-year-old program aimed at bringing quality medical care to low-income students in Adams County School District 14 is gaining national attention.
Adams 14 is home to four school-based health centers that provide basic medical care as well as mental-health counseling and prevention programs for 7,000 students.
The health centers started as a partnership with Community Health Services, a nonprofit group that wanted to ensure that infants, children and young adults get proper health care in an area where doctors are few and the means to pay for medical services are limited.
The health centers — which saw 10,194 visits last year from 4,439 infants, children and youth — were the reason Adams 14 was given a 2011 Magna Award. The awards are granted by the American School Board Journal, the National School Boards Association, and Sodexo School Services for programs that advance learning and encourage community involvement.
The school-based clinics are prime examples of a community partnership that is helping kids stay healthy and in school, officials said.
“Students perform better when they are healthy, and ready to learn when they show up for class,” said Susan Chandler, Adams 14’s superintendent. “Adams 14’s school-based health centers bring the doctor’s office to the school, so students avoid health-related absences and get support to succeed in the classroom.”
About 82 percent of those enrolled at Adams 14 are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches. More than 80 percent of the students are Latino, with 57 percent speaking primarily Spanish.
Commerce City has few private medical practices in the community and none that serve the indigent, officials say.
The only care many parents and their children can get is in the health centers, which are located at two high schools and two middle schools, including a stand-alone clinic at Kearney Middle School.
All of the clinics are staffed by nurse practitioners who perform basic health checkups and lab work. A doctor floats among all the clinics for more detailed cases.
The Kearney clinic provides mental-health services, as well.
Some families are covered by private insurance. Most of the rest are covered under Medicaid or the Children’s Basic Health Plan, a joint state and federal program for those who can’t qualify for Medicaid.
If families don’t have those options, they can pay through a sliding scale from $2 to $30 per visit.
“We never turn away families because they can’t pay,” said Norma Portnoy, executive director of Community Health Services.
The numbers of visitors to the school-based clinics are growing. Currently, 64 percent of the Adams City High School population is enrolled in its school-based health center, compared with 52 percent last year, officials say.
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com
